Percussion, bells, piano and the eerie flute playing of Jim Horn introduce this song. Horn was a session musician more renowned for his saxophone playing and had just released a solo album in 1972 under the guidance of Dave Hassinger, named THROUGH THE EYES OF A HORN. It included, amongst many others, Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge, Jim Keltner and Chuck Finley. Can You Hear The Music? is a strange, rhetorical, almost “psychedelia revisited” track which explores overdubbed, synthesised, vocal playbacks and wah-wah guitar.
There is a lot of instrumentation quietly going on in the depths of the song, much of it suggested by Mick Taylor and harking back to Brian Jones' experimentation. Jagger sings “can you hear the drums?” to which the bongos reply with a small flourish “can you hear the guitar?” The original guitar riff, written by Keith Richards, is almost lost in the track's unintended complexity and Keith almost failed to recognise the outcome. Mick Taylor contributes the bass and main guitar lines.

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